Every dog owner wants to keep a dog that is clean and tidy. Sometimes it is disgusting to see your dog eat its poop. This can cause some emotional distress for you. But why do dogs eat their poop? There are different reasons why dogs behave that way.
Several factors contribute to this disgusting practice by some dogs. Environmental factors, as well as the kind of training given to the dog from childhood, can to some extent play a role in making them eat their poop.
Why is my dog eating poop all of a sudden
The question you would like answered is why do dogs eat their poop? I would start by saying that various things contribute to this.
Some of the causes include:
Training: If you train your dog to see poop as something that is unpleasant, with time, they will treat it exactly that way. When a puppy eats poop and gets punished for it, the tendency is that next time; it wouldn’t want to get near it. But if you teach dogs to eat poop as a way of keeping their litter clean, they get used to it and continue with the habit into old age.
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Instinct: Dogs have been scavengers, eating whatever that came their way before they got domesticated. So, eating poop is just part of the instinct, and that can be normal.
Age: eating poop is relatively common with puppies because of their age. They experiment with whatever comes their way. However, it must be noted that puppies learn fast from what they see and copy from others too. But as they grow older, they learn to separate what is good and acceptable from what is disgusting and then change their behavior.
Health problem: Some dogs eat their poop when they have a challenge absorbing enough nutrients from their foods, they have a problem with their pancreas, or when they are infected with parasites.
Boredom: A bored dog can sometimes eat feces as a pastime. If there are no toys or other dogs to play with, the dog could start playing with and eating its poop.
Neglect: when dogs are neglected by their owners, they can resort to eating their feces as a way of getting their owner’s attention.
Sanitation: If you make your dog live in dirty kennels, they may start to do the cleaning of their home by themselves. This is usually done to prevent predators from using scent cues to get to them.
Problem adjusting to modern food: Certain enzymes needed for complete digestion of their foods are lacking in artificially prepared food. So, dogs sometimes resort to eating poop to replenish their natural digestive enzymes.
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Why Do Dogs Eat Their Poop?
I think you are now aware of this fact. Dogs are born with the instinct to eat poop. A lot of factors contribute to enhancing this instinct. However, there are a lot of things you could do as a dog owner to prevent it from eating its poop. Your dogs must never be neglected as this can add in some ways to the problem.
